Federal Antimonopoly Service issued a warning to Jägermeister in violation of the Protection of Competition law

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has recognized the German company Mast-Jägermeister as a violator of the law "On Protection of Competition" due to the requirements to stop the sale of beverages under the brands Alter Heiler and Konig Heiler from the Kaluga’s Distillery “KLVZ Crystal”.

The representative of Mast-Jägermeister noted the similarity of the label and bottle shape of the Alter Heiler and Konig Heiler bitters with the products of the German brand, believing this to be the use of reputation and misleading consumers.

The FAS believes that the manufacturer should not have called these products counterfeit, since there is no relevant judicial act establishing the counterfeiting of goods.

Sergey Zuykov, Managing Partner of Zuykov and partners, believes that the FAS has made the right decision. According to him, in order to declare a counterfeit, it is necessary to have a court decision or another authorized body that would recognize that KLVZ products violate the rights of Mast-Jägermeister. Sergey Zuykov notes that such unfounded statements can be considered spreading false information and discrediting.

After receiving a warning from the FAS, Mast-Jägermeister must withdraw its letters demanding that KLVZ products from retail chains be withdrawn from circulation. Otherwise, the FAS may initiate a case on violation of antimonopoly legislation. Artem Chubukin, General Director of Crystal, indicates that at the moment the letters have not been withdrawn. Chubukin also claims that the company is preparing a lawsuit to the arbitration court, since a number of trading partners still stopped sales, which led to lost profits. He estimates the potential amount of the claim at "hundreds of millions of rubles."

Source: Vedomosti